One sided space race?
WestlinnDuck
Member Posts: 15,545 
Or is it a three sided space race with the Chicoms and the US deep state government against Elon Musk's SpaceX? It's clear that the chicoms are committed to catching and surpassing the US in rocket and satellite technology. NASA is a bureaucratic husk with little to no real added value to what the US collectively are accomplishing. Boeing, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin and others are way over budget and way over on expected delivery times. So, is the FAA committed to having sufficient resources to provide actual helpful oversight of SpaceX or is the US bureaucracy trying to bury Musk for the sin of buying Twitter, moving out of California and embarrassing NASA? Was it the FCC that got high speed internet into rural America or was it Musk's Starlink? All rhetorical questions
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/faa-fines-spacex-633k-for-acting-without-its-permission/
FAA fines SpaceX $633K for acting without its permission
September 17, 2024 12:46 pm Robert Zimmerman
The FAA today revealed that it wants to fine SpaceX a total of $633,009 for two different actions where the company did something without the agency’s express permission.
In May 2023, SpaceX submitted a request to revise its communications plan related to its license to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The proposed revisions included adding a new launch control room at Hangar X and removing the T-2 hour readiness poll from its procedures. On June 18, 2023, SpaceX used the unapproved launch control room for the PSN SATRIA mission and did not conduct the required T-2 hour poll. The FAA is proposing $350,000 in civil penalties ($175,000 for each alleged violation).
In July 2023, SpaceX submitted a request to revise its explosive site plan related to its license to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The proposed revision reflected a newly constructed rocket propellant farm. On July 28, 2023, SpaceX used the unapproved rocket propellant farm for the EchoStar XXIV/Jupiter mission. The FAA is proposing a $283,009 civil penalty.
To understand the absurdity and abuse of power going on here, one must look at the dates. In the first case, SpaceX had already figured out that a new control room and more efficient launch procedure, eliminating that T-2 hour readiness poll, would be safe and worthwhile. Otherwise it would not have requested the revision, since losing a rocket is something that would harm the company. The FAA sat on this request for more than a month, doing nothing. Nor could it do anything, since it relies entirely on company engineers for these determinations.
Finally in mid-June SpaceX then went ahead with the new procedure, launching successfully with no problems. The company probably couldn’t wait any longer because it had a new control room sitting unused, and it likely figured the FAA was going to approve anyway. It is also likely that the company had gotten approvals for the changes from the Space Force, which manages Cape Canaveral.
In the second case, SpaceX made its request in July to use the new propellant farm and the FAA once again did nothing for weeks. I must repeat that the company would only make this request once it had done the due diligence to make sure using the farm was safe. The FAA can’t do it, since it has no one qualified to do this work. It must rely on the company’s analysis.
Once again the launch went off successfully, with no problems. And once again SpaceX likely also had gotten approvals from the Kennedy Space Center, which manages this launch site.
In both cases, it is clear that the changes were eventually approved by the FAA. These fines therefore are simply because FAA management has hurt feelings because SpaceX wouldn’t wait for it to twiddle its thumbs for a few more weeks. The fines also suggest that FAA management is either being pressured to hinder SpaceX’s commercial operations by higher ups in the White House, or that management itself is trying to exert more power over the company, for apparently very petty reasons.
SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the FAA before the fines are imposed. I expect the company to fight back hard in this. In fact, I suspect it wants this case in court, if only to highlight the FAA’s abuse of power.
Comments
Looks like Elon’s bill to NASA for rescuing the astronauts just went up by $633k